Amar’e Stoudemire: Pau Gasol Is Still A Softie

Pau Gasol probably thought he was finally finished hearing it. But no, Amar’e Stoudemire came and brought the old flame back. And then Andrew Bynum had to start calling people out on Twitter. “He’s…he’s still soft,” STAT said about Gasol during an appearance this weekend with Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg.

Bynum saw the video and came back at the Knicks’ All-Star, tweeting in response: The NBA is a weird place! How can a man that plays 0 defense call a 2 time champion soft? @wheretheydothatat

There’s nothing better in this world than a good ol-fashioned brouhaha on Twitter. The Lakers must be warming up for the playoffs with all of these Twitter beefs. Still, this one was warranted. Honestly, we bet Stoudemire wishes he could take back those words. He obviously believes them, but in the court of public opinion, he sounds really stupid considering he has zero rings (Gasol has two) and his rebounding numbers from the past three seasons are dwarfed by Gasol’s.

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“There’s nothing better in this world than a good ol-fashioned brouhaha on Twitter. The Lakers must be warming up for the playoffs with all of these Twitter beefs. Still, this one was warranted. Honestly, we bet Stoudemire wishes he could take back those words. He obviously believes them, but in the court of public opinion, he sounds really stupid considering he has zero rings (Gasol has two) and his rebounding numbers from the past three seasons are dwarfed by Gasol’s. ”

^ pretty much eliminated any room for an argument.. exactly what i was going to post before i hit the “read more” link…

By: Showtime

04.05.2011 @ 4:20 PM

There’s not even an argument. Gasol OWNED Amare in last years Western Conference Finals and by the way …

Why is rebounding the only indicator of softness? Is Brook Lopez soft or just CONSTANTLY out of position? Who brings up rings in an individual comparison? Is Adam Morrison a better Small Forward than Lebron because of his rings?

By: yoda

04.05.2011 @ 4:54 PM

bynum couldn’t said it better. amar’e moves away so he doesn’t get dunked on and he calls someone soft?

By: hahns

04.05.2011 @ 5:01 PM

more of this garbage of making rings mean everything. because you played a role on a championship team, that automatically means that youre not soft?

i’m not saying that pau is or isnt soft- more of the fallacy that just because you won a ring you are immune from any criticism by anyone who hasn’t won a ring.

if mj called pau soft, would it then be true? would amare then have grounds to call him soft? that arbitrary distinction obviously shows that rings dont mean anything except that you were GOOD enough to win a chip. GOOD doesnt implicate anything except GOOD. you could be skillfull, tough, whatever.

just because someone hasnt won a ring doesnt mean he cannot objectively consider someone else’s qualities.

By: ctkennedy

04.05.2011 @ 5:07 PM

Gasol is the top 10 in the league…ill glady rock with his so called SOFT ASS

By: nige

04.05.2011 @ 5:08 PM

@Hahns Nail > Head!!!

Pau has 0 aggression just like TD. are they skillful yes but often get bullied around the basket by the likes of Amare hence his comment.

By: A.R.

04.05.2011 @ 5:17 PM

@ post 5

Hell no. But thats foolish of you to put it in that context. Its okay to bring up ring count in this particular comparison because Gasol and Stat played in the same conference for many years, and last year Gasol RAN THROUGH Stat in the playoffs. And Stoudemire’s rebound total has little to do with being out of position, with his athleticism he could easily average 12 rebounds his problem is laziness and softness. He doesnt want his ass handed to him down there unless he’s tryna score. I’ll never mistake Gasol for a tough guy but I think he’s done enough to warrant not being called soft anymore. Hell at least he grabs 10+ rebounds a night

By: LakeShow84

04.05.2011 @ 5:18 PM

Pau isnt soft..

he just gets worn down quicker than most..

And when hes worn down he becomes soft.. Hes easily pushed off his spots and he can disappear offensively and defensively..

BUT

a player like Amare Stoudemire couldnt make him soft so he should check himself on that one..

LMAO @ Calderon calling out bad defenders LMAO

By: rapTOr

04.05.2011 @ 5:19 PM

Amare’s just mad that a cancer has just been added to his team, and that he’s not on his way to a third straight ring like Gasol is.

I agree with you too a fault. The reason rings should count in this argument is because in order for Gasol to have won his second ring he had to go through Stoudemire, which he did. I don’t know why everyone is acting like Gasol got his rings Jack Haley style he put in plenty of work for those rings and he outplayed Stat at the same postion. Stat calling out Pau after being beat by him would be like Drexler calling out MJ after the finals loss. You can say what you want but he still beat you, so what does that say about you?

By: NYK

04.05.2011 @ 5:41 PM

i think Manu Ginobili was complaining about the massive flopping on twitter.

And Tony Parker was complaining about players sleeping with teammates’ wives.

By: ecco

04.05.2011 @ 5:43 PM

americans are obsessed with this softnes thing, just becouse a player does not play physicall means its per se a bad thing. it is gasols style, and it is obviously working. why not call it smooth instead of soft? same goes for nowitzki!

By: POPPI GEE

04.05.2011 @ 5:43 PM

And let us all be thankful that STAT doesn’t have rings. Think if he is going in like this withn NOTHING, just imagine how much of a clown this guy would be with rings.

Right now he is that big bad dude that is on every court, that coulda, shoulda, woulda did this and that but didn’t cause of some excuse.

Even if he is soft who cares? Why do you need to play mad physical to be considered a good player?

Hakeem the dream was pretty soft in the way he played but still got rebounds and was smooth as fcuk on the offensive end with his quick soccer feet…

By: M Intellect

04.05.2011 @ 6:31 PM

I think rings come into question when looking at players of a similar standard.

RE: Amare’s statement – Let’s be fair, Amare is a lazy, under-achieving fuck but even though Pau isn’t all the way soft, he is defintely closer to being soft then he is tough.

By: Sunni

04.05.2011 @ 7:17 PM

You guys are all looking at the wrong factors…its not about rings, or rebounding..its about logic..no-one thats soft can have a long career, let alone any kind of career as a starting power forward/center in the nba…just cause he aint elbowing people in the nuts to get a rebound dont mean hes soft

By: First & Foremost

04.05.2011 @ 7:24 PM

How is dropping 42 & 13 on said soft big man in question being “Ran Through”? How is 27 & 4 compared to 9 & 7 in the deciding game being “Ran Through”? Gasol found his pair in the Finals but vs. Amar’e he was a completely different player.

Who wouldn’t try to go hard vs. a hobbled KG who still put in work on Gasol.

Rings have no bearing in this discussion because it comes down to who was in the better situation. Gasol had Bynum backing him up while Amar’e had to go to war with Channing Frye. The same Channing Frye who forgot how to shoot for like 3 straight games.

By: matt

04.05.2011 @ 7:26 PM

Pau won a world championship with spain in 06, player of the tournament. Also lost to the redeem team. also lost to russia by 1 pt in euro championship. Amare got bronze in 04 athens and he played for US in fiba americas cup in 07. REAL IMPRESSIVE. Who is a better passer, rebounder and defensive player – Pau. Pau can play both PF and C quite well. He gets in there with many players. Also, do u know how many mins this guy has played: Let’s recap – 3 straight finals years (2 championships, wouldve been 3 if Bynum wasn’t injured in 2008), 08 olympics, 06 world championships, euro championship. * 2Ã— NBA Champion (2009, 2010)
* NBA Rookie of the Year (2002)
* 4Ã— NBA All-Star (2005, 2009-2011)
* 2Ã— All-NBA Third Team (2009-2010)
* NBA All-Rookie First Team (2002)
* FIBA World Championship MVP (2006)
* EuroBasket MVP (2009)
* 2Ã— FIBA Europe Player of the Year (2008-2009)
* 2Ã— Mister Europa Player of the Year (2004, 2009)
* 3Ã— Euroscar Player of the Year (2008-2010)

I never said Amare wasnt a great offensive player so I see right past that 42 & 13 night considering he got flamed out after that in the rebound department. And why are you are happy about his 4 rebounds in the deciding game? Wasn’t he supposed to be there primary rebounder? 4? And let’s forget in that deciding game Kobe and Artest took on the load offensively so Gasol didnt get many touches. Amare average 6 rebounds that series! 6! That small forward territory right there. Bottom line, if I’m building a championship team I’ll take Gasol over Stoudemire anyday

By: A.R.

04.05.2011 @ 7:45 PM

@ Matt

Check. Mate.

Couldn’t of said it better myself.

By: Stunnaboy2K11

04.05.2011 @ 7:49 PM

How does bringing up career accolades determine whether a player is/isn’t soft?

By: s.bucketz

04.05.2011 @ 7:52 PM

When gasol was the main man on the grizzlies gettin 20 and 10 would u have taken him over stat then??doubt it

By: Ian

04.05.2011 @ 7:58 PM

hahns
rings are valid when we are talking about stars. gasol was the second and at time the best player on a championship team. longley isnt better than ewing but the admiral , hakeem and shaq were and one of the reasons is the rings.

nige
wtf you talking about like td i hope u mean ted dorothy or something like that. between softies td and gasol they have 6 rings and your monster amare has 0.

By: Ian

04.05.2011 @ 8:02 PM

bucketz
yeah cuz gasol won 50 games in the west with that team amare can barely keep the knicks even in a weaker conference. gasol easy every day.

By: deeds

04.05.2011 @ 8:11 PM

Gasol is not zoft….he is a much better player than amare

By: flavur

04.05.2011 @ 11:09 PM

Pau Gasol is soft that’s just his personality I mean he’s an extremely nice guy and nice guys are usually soft and yeah I understand that Amare hasn’t been rebounding that well the past couple seasons but remember he used to average 12-11 rebounds per game before shaq came to pheonix

By: flavur

04.05.2011 @ 11:09 PM

^phoenix

By: Chicagorilla

04.05.2011 @ 11:18 PM

Gasol is soft, Lakeshow described it best.

Should Amare be saying that about anyone….? Hell no lol. Amare is not soft on offense as he uses his strength to muscle bigs in the paint and explode on them for dunks. On defense Amare is softer than q-tip cotton!

Gasol gets pushed off the blocks and relies on savvy to get buckets in da paint.

@egypt,

If you think Hakeem was soft why dont you read how his oppoents would talk about how strong he was even though he looked thin. Hakeem wasn’t a Shaq or D12 but he did his fair share of physical had in an era that was loaded with physical big men.

Can’t wait to read all the weak shit excuses that showtime and lakeshow will be spewing out tomorrow.

should be fun

By: frankie

04.06.2011 @ 1:23 AM

Lol saying that someone’s soft on Rosenberg’s show is like saying someone’s dumb while you’re in detention. Dude is fake as hell and his show is weak.

Amar’e? See you in the Finals then I’ll listen to what you have to say about people being soft. Better yet, see you on the plus side of 10 boards.

By: TheBigEASY

04.06.2011 @ 1:25 AM

READ THE QUESTION PEOPLE !
THE SUBJECT MATTER IS WHETHER GASOL IS STILL SOFT ! not whether he is a shit player.

We all know Gasol is a great player.

If you can seriously say with a straight face that Gasol is not soft, then you are either gay, a spaniard or a hater of Amare.

By: shiptar

04.06.2011 @ 4:47 AM

amare is a douchebag who will never win a championship as a top 2 player on any team…

By: Kobeeeee

04.06.2011 @ 6:30 AM

Really? I would rather have Gasol being the power forward on my team than Amare. On both ends: Offense and defense. So who is soft? The fact that Gasol is a nice guy is being taken wrongly here. Gasol will play for many years to come. He does not play physically but he has a good body which will last for a long time in the NBA. So he is not really soft. Yesa sometimes he should dunk it harder or dunk it instead of gonig for the Layup. But at the end Gasol will have a better life story to tell than Amare. That’s what counts when you look back. I really believe I can score more easily on Amare…

By: hahns

04.06.2011 @ 7:39 AM

why do people equate rings with greatness?!?! why!!! egypt said it- it doesn’t matter if he’s soft or not- if hes getting the job done then thats that. if i was drafting a player who was “soft” but could score at will vs. a guy that was “tough” but had to bully his way to points, id obviously pick the first guy. toughness is almost irrelevant.

there is obviously a certain minimum threshold of toughness that all players need- and suffice it to say that pau has that. but lets not pretend that the guy is ben wallace, because he just simply is not.

By: lil_duece

04.06.2011 @ 8:20 AM

gasol is cheese in the sun soft

By: Larry

04.06.2011 @ 9:14 AM

I’m a Knicks fan, and very happy to have a player and leader like Amare here in NY. BUT… if and when he wins a couple of rings, with the NBA, or in Europe, or Cambodia, or the South Pole then maybe he has something to say about Gasol. Pau’s game has done nothing but improve over the last couple of years. He fills his role very nicely, thank you. Meantime Amare ought to focus on keeping the Knicks moving in the right direction. Then maybe, MAYBE he and the Knicks might get meet the Lakers on the floor and we’ll see who prevails. Jeeez. Shut up and play…

By: hakasan

04.06.2011 @ 10:31 AM

stat, who managed to get a total of 6 rebounds off the craptors last night, is calling people soft? hahahaha

By: hakasan

04.06.2011 @ 11:00 AM

@5, yeah adam morrison is not as good as lebron james, but that sun yue… whew…. watch your back lbj…

By: JAY

04.06.2011 @ 11:35 AM

I can’t read through all of these posts. A lot of them are retarded. One guy seriously called TD soft… and another called Hakeem soft. Lol. That’s the last post I read. I couldn’t take it anymore.

Some of you are confusing “soft” with “finesse”, like they’re interchangeable terms. They’re 2 totally different things. “Soft” is a mental thing. If you’re mentally soft, you play soft… meaning you don’t go after boards, or are afraid to try to block someone in fear of getting dunked on. THAT’S soft.

“Finesse” is a term to describe a skillset. Bargnani is a finesse guy and is soft. Bosh has a finesse game but is soft, most of the time. Hakeem is a finesse big man, but he ain’t soft.
The opposite of Finesse big man is the power big man or a “Banger”… like Amare. Amare is a Banger but is largely considered soft.

Going back to Hakeem…. you don’t become the NBA’s all-time leader in blocks if you’re soft. Whoever said that, doesn’t know shit. No offense.

By: dagwaller

04.06.2011 @ 12:16 PM

@ Jay – I like your classification system

By: JAY

04.06.2011 @ 12:45 PM

Okay, I managed to read through a couple more shitty posts in here… Some dudes are pulling up fuckin statistics to argue someone being soft? LOL!
Perkins’ resume is short as shit but he ain’t soft.
Kris Humphries hasn’t done SHIT in his career but he’s one of the toughest guy in the league.
Vince Carter has some of the best stats of any guard over the last 15 years… THAT mutherfucker is Cottonelle soft.

Being soft or tough has NOTHING to do with career accomplishments, or lack thereof. What are you guys doing pulling stats in this case? Lol.

By: S-SiN

04.06.2011 @ 1:00 PM

STAT is a retard. Going back to old ESPN life where high schoolers JJ Reddick and !!#A’$m:ar”””e stupid ass difined his bullshit nickname and JJ called the dumbest thing he’s ever heard. Hilarious!

Go back to eating ‘Melo’s leftovers u clumsy jumpy nonsence of a man!

By: JAY

04.06.2011 @ 1:00 PM

@ dagwaller
Thanks bruh. Just wanted to make a point that guys could be a finesse player, and be soft(Bargnani) or tough(Olajuwon)… and Bangers can be soft(Amare) or tough(Barkley).